Job offer for a bird carver

[bird carver]

Hello everyone, I just recieved a phone call from a gentelman who is looking for a birdcarver to carve an eagle for him. His price range is from $100.00-$300.00 for this carving, size wise from 1-2 foot tall. I deal mostly with high detail carving's myself but won't be able to help this guy. His name is Rich Rweinhandl his phone number is 224-567-1547 and his e-mail is rweinhandl@judsonu.edu
It sounds like it could be a chainsaw carving also. If anyone is interested please contact him on this. Thanks everyone, Bird carver

[Blackjaxe]

$100-300 range, your kidding me, I can't even buy the wood for that price never mind carve it as well. Good luck on this one. If he added another "0" to the equation he would probably get a lot of response and with some of the carvers who belong to this forum he would also get a great carving.

[mark yundt]

I don't mean to be rude but I have to agree with Blackjaxe. 1-300 isn't much incentive but it may depend on what he's expecting. If it's a realistic carving he's looking for even adding another "0" doesn't help much. If it's chainsaw,well that's out of my realm.

[LisaS]

the email address puts him at Judson University - whose mascot is an eagle - and his name comes up on search as a coach - I suspect there might be a relationship

[mark yundt]

I'm sure there is, but,,,,,

[markken5889]

last time I saw a real quality eagle carved it was going for something like $45,000, and took the carver the better part of 2 years to complete. Maybe he's not looking for something that detailed, but (with all due respect) geez... I'm siding with Ken and Mark Y on this one.

Mark

[Paul_Guraedy]

When I started carving, I literally thought...what do you need besides a pocket knife and a limb!

Most folks have little concept of the cost of this avocation. A friend asked me about woodcarving for his daughter. I knew he was rather frugal so I asked him, "got a good pocket knife"? When he acknowledged that he did, I asked him what he paid for it. He confessed that it was middle range in price and seemed pleased when I told him that was about the cost of one of my carving knives........he flinched when I told him how many I had and looked at me like I was crazy when I started naming off gouge types and costs...and lost interest when I started talking about the cost of wood. I offered to start his daughter in woodcarving without charging for the first carving she made. Been over a year and no resumption of the discussion.

Someone interested in selling carvings might be interested in this project just to get their name known otherwise...............

[mark yundt]

What you say is true. In some way each job does pay for tools etc.but since I'm a carver, vocation or avocation, I'd have the tools regardless.
Same as when I take my car for repair the mechanic has lots of tools, and yes, customers ultimately paid for them. But what I feel I'm actually paying for is his knowledge and skills to solve my problem more than fund his tool expenditures. I'm paying for his talent.
Similar situation here. Yes, tools are involved, materials etc. but they don't get paid for with one job. They get "amortized" over time and many jobs. It's my skills in using the tools to accomplish a job that the clients are paying for. I didn't tack the price of a new band saw on to a job because I needed it to do that particular job.
Now the other thing to consider , and I'm not picking on this particular "client" but there is the matter of people just not knowing the time, energy and skill involved in doing some types of work. And I'm not sure exactly what he's looking for which could be anything from a chainsaw carving, to a primitive looking piece to something as detailed as a World Championship type carving. There just isn't enough info here to make that call.
Then too, it could be something as simple and common as someone having Champagne tastes with a beer budget. I see that often.
And as far as doing work just to get your name out there I can't say this would be the best venue starting out trying to establish themselves. If it's a hobby and you don't care what the price is or how well you do and a little bit of something is better than nothing for your effort then go for it.It's a " I'm carving anyway for free so a hundred bucks to get a couple of tools for having some fun is worth it" But still , there are better ways if that's the objective.
I have lost my shirt on many a job looking back in retrospect but at the time it was still a decent price to start with for the job and time period. I just don't know if this qualifies even for that. Again, not picking on this particular "client" as he simply just may not know what it takes or what actual prices are for at least the minimum requirements for a carving. I've had clients as well that simply didn't know and just threw out a number as a starting point. Maybe that's the case here. Once they knew what the score was they either said it's beyond their means or they said,," Oh,, OK,,that makes sense, lets go from here."
Clients and sales,,what an interesting subject to analyze and figure out.

[bird carver]

Hello Guy's, When I talked to Rich when he called me the one who wants a carving made, I explained to him he won't get a detailed carving for this price but maybe someone might be able to come up with a smaller (smoothy) or a shape of one on wood and just stain it or seal it Also he said it can be a head bust carving also. He said that will be good if someone can do that. He is just looking for a shape of an eagle on wood, nothing fancy. Hope this helps more. Bird carver

[torpidhummer]

Man oh Man! I agree with Ken and Mark,if some folks outside of the wood carving the communities would only realize the talent,study and work involved in carving a realistic eagle or any other bird. or even "smoothie",would require the same amount talent and time. They would think twice before making such a request. We all know the economy is pretty slow,sounds like this fellow is willing to pay about buck an hour,any takers out there?

Oscar